FAO/PL:1968/M/9/1
WHO/FOOD ADD./69.35
1968 EVALUATIONS OF SOME PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FOOD
THE MONOGRAPHS
Issued jointly by FAO and WHO
The content of this document is the result of the deliberations of the
Joint Meeting of the FAO Working Party of Experts and the WHO Expert
Committee on Pesticide Residues, which met in Geneva, 9-16 December,
1968.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Geneva, 1969
DIELDRIN
Since the previous evaluation (FAO/WHO, 1968) additional data has
become available and is summarized and discussed in the following
monograph addendum.
RESIDUES IN FOOD AND THEIR EVALUATION
Background
At the Third Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues the
delegation of Australia requested the Joint Meeting to consider the
advisability of recommending practical residue limits in eggs (CCPR,
1968) and furnished supporting data.
Residues resulting from supervised trials
Reports of experimental work involving the feeding of hens and of
ducks with feeds containing known residues of dieldrin were
considered. After feeding hens diets containing 0.45, 0.15 and 0.05
ppm, residues in eggs reached steady states at 0.50, 0.18 and 0.05
ppm, the average pre-feeding level being 0.006 ppm (Cummings, 1968).
Feeding white leghorns with rice bran contaminated at 0.03 ppm as 20
per cent of the diet, corresponding 0.006 in the total diet, resulted
in residues of 0.01 to 0.02 ppm in eggs (Graves, private
communication). After feeding daily doses of 0.1 mg HEOD to ducks for
five days per week over a total of 152 days, the egg yolk was found to
contain 1.47 ppm HEOD (Shell, private communication).
Evidence of residues in food in commerce or at consumption
Surveys undertaken in the United States of America, the United Kingdom
and Australia have each shown residues of dieldrin in eggs. In the
United Kingdom they reached 0.06 ppm (Findlay, 1968). In the United
States during 1964 to 1967 they were found in over 20 per cent of
domestic and 6 per cent of imported samples (Duggan and Dawson,
1967). Of pulped egg samples examined in Australia 5.5 per cent
contained dieldrin; almost all positive samples being less than 0.1
ppm (Australia, 1968).
The meeting was not aware of any recommended uses of dieldrin upon
poultry or their runs or houses. We therefore believe these residues
are arising from the unintentional contamination of their feed which
in many instances contains products other than cereals.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOLERANCES AND PRACTICAL RESIDUE LIMITS
In addition to the previously recommended temporary tolerances and
practical residue limits to be in effect until 1972:
Vegetables and fruit (other than citrus fruit) 0.1 ppm
Citrus fruit, rice 0.05 ppm
Raw cereals 0.02 ppm
Milk products (on a fat basis) 0.125 ppm
Meat (on a fat basis) 0.2 ppm
Whole milk 0.005 ppm
The meeting also recommends the following practical residue limit to
be in effect until 1972:
Eggs (on a shell-free basis) 0.1 ppm
The above temporary tolerances and practical residue limits are to
apply to raw agricultural products moving in commerce unless otherwise
indicated. In the case of fruit and vegetables the tolerances should
be applied as soon as practicable after harvest and in any event prior
to actual retail to the public. In the case of commodities entering
international trade, the tolerances should be applied by the importing
country at the point of entry or as soon as practicable thereafter.
REFERENCES
Australia. (1968) Submission to 1968 Joint Meeting of the FAO Working
Party of Experts and the WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues.
Prepared by the Australian Delegation to the Codex: Committee on
Pesticide Residues
CCPR. (1968) Report of the 3rd Session of the Codex Committee on 1968
Pesticide Residues (ALINORM 69/24)
Cummings, J. G. et al. (1966) Residues in eggs from low level feeding
of five chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides to hens. J. Assoc. Off.
Agr. Chem., 49: 354-364
Duggan, R. E. and Dawson, K. (1967) Pesticides: A report on residues
in food. FDA Papers, 1: 2-5
FAO/WHO. (1968) 1967 Evaluations of some pesticide residues in food
(FAO, PL:1967/M/11/1; WHO/Food Add./68.30)
Findlay, E. and Hamilton, G. A. (1968) Pesticide residues in food
stuffs in Great Britain. VIII - Organochlorine pesticide residues in
eggs and poultry. Jour. Sci. Food Agr., 19: 609-611